contacting companies on alibaba

[Zono]

I have tried contacting a few companies on alibaba but none of them are replying. is this normal. even some Chinese companies haven’t replied.

 

[Costumier]

Hi Zono, glad someone has asked this as I keep getting Alibaba when I am searching for suppliers but so far I have had no responses. Does anyone use it? am I doing something wrong?

 

[Gwekids]

On alibaba, research research, research. Do the companies you have been looking at have websites? Do not place an order with anyone on there without getting samples first. Dont pay using Western Union, use an escrow account. Just out of interest, what questions were you asking? If they we not legitimate, you may have asked something that they cannot answer...so it's not a bad thing that they are not responding. There are are some good folks on alibaba but the are a LOT of scammers. Please be careful.

 

[Zono]

On alibaba, research research, research. Do the companies you have been looking at have websites? Do not place an order with anyone on there without getting samples first. Dont pay using Western Union, use an escrow account. Just out of interest, what questions were you asking? If they we not legitimate, you may have asked something that they cannot answer...so it's not a bad thing that they are not responding. There are are some good folks on alibaba but the are a LOT of scammers. Please be careful.

thanks for the reply. i only enquire with the standard questions of stocks, prices, samples and MOQ. tried with a few Chinese and south American clothing and footwear. even with European food companies.

i only got i reply back so far.

do you also recommend using paypal if it gets to the stage of ordering and etc?

 

[Zono]

Also i know this topic has been covered before on here but how do you check authenticity of products from EU companies like sunglasses and watches.

 

[Marcus.S]

You can chat on Alibaba, have you ever tried that? Or maybe call them?

 

[Gwekids]

Also i know this topic has been covered before on here but how do you check authenticity of products from EU companies like sunglasses and watches.

If you are talking about branded items then contact the brand directly and ask if your supplier is a legitimate distributor.

With regards paypal, only if they have a paypal account as that is escrow.

 

[dannydeng]

I have tried contacting a few companies on alibaba but none of them are replying. is this normal. even some Chinese companies haven’t replied.

Some companies may be not acustomed to reply on alibaba,maybe you can leave your email or phone No.Escrow and Paybal can be helpful in small business,to make your business bigger,finding a reliable partener is important.

 

[firefoxe]

if you have any new inquires about clothing,pls kindly contact me.i'll send samples for your check first.

 

[BLintl.]

Usually if no reply - the company is not interested. Or your messages went directly to spam. Try to find the companies on the Internet and send them a direct email.

Regarding PayPal. It can be a good solution for smaller orders but if you want to import by containers you should chose another payment method.

 

[AlibabaTalk]

Hi Zono,

It is Javier from the Alibaba team. I am wondering if you got some replies already. I am just wondering if it was due to the time difference or whether it had been some time ago.

We hope you find great providers through Alibaba, and that these can get back to you quickly. Kind regards,

Javier
The Alibaba UK Team

 

[AlibabaTalk]

Hi Zono and Customier,

I would also like to ask about the Minimum Order Quantity you are enquiring about. Perhaps for these producers you are contacting it is a small quantity and they might not be as interesting to them as other enquiries. If it was due to this, I would suggest using Aliexpress.com as it is pefect for smaller quantities.

Also, I would like to suggest our free Customised Sourcing service to find you suppliers. As I am not allowed to share links yet, you can find it on uk.alibaba.com. On the "Let us find the right supplier for you" rotating banner.

Kind regards,

Javier
The Alibaba UK Team

 

[Zono]

i have contacted several companies asking for their min MOQ and ordering policy and etc. have had maybe 1 reply out of 10/12.

 

[The Resolver]

Great marketplace (albeit an unfortunate name ie the famous traditional arab story) But I have had clients who come to me after losing out badly on Alibaba- remember AB is just a meeting point- anyone can sell so three tips:-

1. Insist on your purchase being subject to YOUR buying terms and conditions - may have to argue but at end of day if they want to sell they will accept your terms.

2. Ensure your terms have an ODR (online dispute resolution) clause (I can provide one gratis to anyone who PMs me) to operate in case of dispute. Neither party will want to go to a court in either country.

3. Protect the monies until safe delivery of goods at port (escrow)

AB is great because its vast and for that its open risk -but that just means taking care

 

[MASSEY]

Javier
The Alibaba UK Team

Do you think it is logical that sellers on your website can buy their gold status seller label?

 

[kennyservice]

Well, you should check yourself whether there is problem with your inquiry to the supplier.
A good inquiry will make the supplier service you in a different atitude, as we all know that the internet sourcing work has help a lot of buyers, buyers can send one same email to a lot of suppliers, you can imaging that how many emails suppliers will receive in a day, and how much their work will be, in this case, many suppliers have adopt some way to make their work more effect, that is to delect or ignore those looks not a potential buyer.
Almost every factory have their website, so now, it is unwise to send an enquiry to the factory and ask for any catalogues with price. but this is an useless inquiry, supplier can not quote you at once, they even do not know what you exactly need. For an quality inquiry, you have to browse website of the supplier, select the item you like and tell them the quantity you may buy, at least ask them to quote with their MOQ, if you want more styles, you can ask supplier on this in the email, I am sure they will be happy to release those do not list on website.
resource:http://www.kennygao.com/how-to-make-an-quality-inquiry-to-supplier.html

 

[irisxie801]

I have tried contacting a few companies on alibaba but none of them are replying. is this normal. even some Chinese companies haven’t replied.

Zono, I don't know clothing very well, for footwear, they may have a few reasons:

most factories are ranking their orders till July or even later, and RMB is rising now, so if they don't thought you are a potential customer, they may answer you so late. ,if you send more details about the products such as pic, or anything you cared, you may got more reply!

and for footwear, most powerful factories getting order from fair, Alibaba is just a assistant ways of marketing. cause Alibaba is much cheaper than global resource.

I think it mostly caused by your questions. is to general, they need details! hope it helps!

 

[kennyservice]

Zono, I don't know clothing very well, for footwear, they may have a few reasons:

most factories are ranking their orders till July or even later, and RMB is rising now, so if they don't thought you are a potential customer, they may answer you so late. ,if you send more details about the products such as pic, or anything you cared, you may got more reply!

and for footwear, most powerful factories getting order from fair, Alibaba is just a assistant ways of marketing. cause Alibaba is much cheaper than global resource.

I think it mostly caused by your questions. is to general, they need details! hope it helps!

This is a bad guiding.

 

[irisxie801]

This is a bad guiding.

yeah may be it's a bad guiding, cause people have different ideas, actually i'm a international sales in a Chinese company, so i know what they are thinking about! but just for you all reference, not a effective answer!

 

[lisa zhu]

We are China company listed on alibaba; everyday we got a lot of inquiries and we will treat them differently; if the inquiry has specific requireement and with full contact details, we will reply it asap; while it is general, we may delay it because of secondary importance; even we will do not reply the message from nigeria, etc. because we think it is waste of time.

Lisa

 

[AlibabaTalk]

Do you think it is logical that sellers on your website can buy their gold status seller label?

Hi MASSEY,

Thanks for your reply. I would like to mention that when a supplier wants to become a Gold Supplier, they undergo a basic background check called Authentication and Verification, conducted by an independent inspection service.

Alibaba.com consistently reviews its authentication and verification procedures to create a more transparent and informative system that allows buyers to better evaluate suppliers so they can make confident purchasing decisions.

However, it is always important for buyers and sellers to conduct full due-diligence on any company before entering into a transaction. I would like to strongly suggest checking our Safe Trading Tips on our website.

Kind regards and thanks again for your question,

Javier
The Alibaba UK Team

 

[tonywooh]

Simply because they were not interested in your inquiry, especially stocks busines.

 

[The Resolver]

AliBaba Talk - how many sellers agree to an online dispute resolution clause? This can be a good way to begin to generate trust . No seller should insist on being taken to a court in their own country simply to resolve a dispute when the parties are so far distant with totally different legal regimes. I suggest ODR commitment would be a good condition to have for Gold Supplier status Perhaps I can speak to someone at AB on that issue

 

[coral2389]

Hi Zono, glad someone has asked this as I keep getting Alibaba when I am searching for suppliers but so far I have had no responses. Does anyone use it? am I doing something wrong?

Hi,alibaba.com is the most importrant web usded by all kinds of factory,trader.
Please check your junk mail box or call the supplier directly.
Wish you will find the suitable supplier and good business.

 

[axeluk]

AliBaba Talk - how many sellers agree to an online dispute resolution clause? This can be a good way to begin to generate trust . No seller should insist on being taken to a court in their own country simply to resolve a dispute when the parties are so far distant with totally different legal regimes. I suggest ODR commitment would be a good condition to have for Gold Supplier status Perhaps I can speak to someone at AB on that issue

ODR commitment may not be practically feasible when buying from China. The customer complaint and protection is painful if the seller is not willing to sort things out.

BTW, alibaba talk (online chatting) and phone calls are best way to get response. It is normal if you don't get any response to your email enquiry.

 

[The Resolver]

ODR commitment may not be practically feasible when buying from China.

That is exactly why it IS very much feasible and why UNCITRAL (the United Nations Commission International Trade Law) has set up an ODR Working Group and the EU last month required every member State to have ODR systems in place. In fact it is the only way to generate sufficient trust between seller and buyer. No honourable seller would refuse to co-operate with ODR so refusal as a term of the sale becomes a surrogate test for trustworthiness. If buyers made clear they would refuse to do any business with a seller not prepared to participate in ODR then that would soon increase those traders who co-operated. But why wait for the buyer to request it? Sellers who offer it will gain more sales from the trust it creates. Foolish for sellers not to.

 

[axeluk]

That is exactly why it IS very much feasible and why UNCITRAL (the United Nations Commission International Trade Law) has set up an ODR Working Group and the EU last month required every member State to have ODR systems in place. In fact it is the only way to generate sufficient trust between seller and buyer. No honourable seller would refuse to co-operate with ODR so refusal as a term of the sale becomes a surrogate test for trustworthiness. If buyers made clear they would refuse to do any business with a seller not prepared to participate in ODR then that would soon increase those traders who co-operated. But why wait for the buyer to request it? Sellers who offer it will gain more sales from the trust it creates. Foolish for sellers not to.

I agree that setting up a working group such as ODR is very helpful in constructing trust in between sellers and buyers. However, concerned about the understanding and practice of international laws in emerging countries, I would doubt if many sellers will bother join unless they can see benifit from it in short term base. There is also another problem regarding verification and authorization. Building an ODR system would require seller to submit essential information and the details should be verified by authorities. Releasing such system is more difficult than domestic trading commission systems.

 

[bobogifts1989]

Maybe he is not online, don't worry about that

 

[zjriver]

I am Chinese. I am sure most of them are true. You can have a ring to them.

 

[Olivia from lanyardtimes]

Maybe they were off-line. You can talk with them on line through trade manager or MSN when they are on line.

 

[patrickyao]

1,try to send more detailed requirements of your products. If your inquiry is just standard one, some suppliers will not respond.Suppliers will pay more attention to these inquiries with specific requirements.
2, do not send one same inquiry to many suppliers one time. Suppliers will find this out on Alibaba
3, try to talk by Alibaba Trademanager online if you need urgent reply

 

[eyeswellsummer]

hey,everyone,I am summer from china,a supplier of IP camera on alibaba.Yes.There are a few scammers,but most are good folks china supplier,I agree you can buy a sample first to test the quality by using Western Union, use an escrow account.
Anybody who want to sell ip camera with a very good price,welcome contact me.I can offer a very excellent quality with economic price.My msn ID is ipcamera at hotmail.com.
Best regards
Summer

skype ID eyeswellsummer

 

[hxylbs]

There maybe some reason: 1. They didn't check inbox frequently 2.If they are factory sellers, usually they have a MOQ, if your order quantity is small, or you need to make your own logo printing, quantity must reach MOQ.

 

[hxylbs]

It is my suggestion that, if small quantity order, you can search goods on B2b Web(online shopping) , such as GHgate, aliexpress, they offer kinds of quantity orders and they are skilled in international business. Most of your enquiry will be reply soon.

 

[paris pan]

Usually if no reply - the company is not interested. Or your messages went directly to spam. Try to find the companies on the Internet and send them a direct email.

Regarding PayPal. It can be a good solution for smaller orders but if you want to import by containers you should chose another payment method.

i agree with you .